Advisor: Thomas Eisner Start Date:
Fall 2000
I study the benefits of group living and the function of acoustic (vibrational) signaling in a gregarious Australian sawfly larva, Perga affinis affinis. These larvae live in sibling clusters, aggregating in clumps during the day and processing as a group to foraging sites at night. They remain gregarious throughout their 5-6 month larval stage and even pupate together underground. Experimental work on the benefits of group-living has focused on questions relating to thermoregulation, predation, general survival, and growth rate according to group size. Both observational and experimental studies of two vibrational signals, tapping and constrictions, have examined the role of the signals in maintaining group cohesiveness and coordinating group movement.
Photo courtesty of Tom Eisner.
